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We have been married since December 2002. During that time we have lived in Texas and South Carolina. Texas was fun, but there's no place like home...and sweet tea! We have two daughters, both of whom were born in January. Our oldest has brown fur and stands on four legs and is 4 years old. Our youngest, who is definitely an entertainer, is 3 [going on 13].

Thursday, May 27, 2010

The birth of your child is probably one of the most memorable moments of your life. And, like it or not, it's pretty much a day that centers around mommy & baby. If you're like me, you want to do something extra special for your husband so he doesn't feel left out, right?

Well, check out this very cool site that centers around gifts just for dad! DaddyScrubs.com delivers pride and comfort just for dads! They offer medical scrubs, t-shirts, coffee mugs and auto tag frames just for dads.

I think the idea behind this site is awesome and the scrubs are super cool!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

I'm going to take just a moment to brag on myself. Typically I wouldn't do this, but I am so excited and SO proud of myself! Though my family has been geocaching for almost a year and we have over 1000 finds, the only time I ever go out to cache my husband is always with me. This has always been his gig, with me being the sidekick.

Last week, however, I had to make a trip to an area we rarely travel and noticed that there were several caches along my route. Ten to be exact. I decided I'd go for it, so I read the descriptions for each cache on geocaching.com and decided that I would try to find 9 of them (the tenth had too many logs about ants for me to attempt alone.) I mapped out my route, with a print out of each cache description, the coordinates, and put them in the order i would encounter them along my route. And then, feeling a bit nervous and also excited, I set off.

I was using the Garmin nuvi b/c I didn't feel like my training on the Delorme was up to par, but the GPS was quite cooperative that day. Thanks to all the hunting I've gone on with my husband, I found 8 of the 9 very quickly after arriving at ground zero.

Only one of the 9 caches eluded me. I tried it on the trip down and couldn't find it. The clue I had made no sense to me either. I decided to continue my journey and try it again on my way back. Still no luck. I sent my husband a message, who encouraged me to think outside the box and try again.

I decided I should take a break so I grabbed a quick snack at the local McDonald's. While I ate, I thought about the cache. I really had two options here. I could give up and go home. On a first solo outing, 8 finds of 9 isn't a bad start. Or, I could eat, rejuvenate and try again. If I went home defeated, at least I could say I gave it my best. So for the third time that day, I drove over to the cache site.

With a clear head and a full stomach, I walked to spot my GPS directed, took off my sunglasses and within 90 seconds had an "ah ha" moment. I walked right to the cache, retrieved it, signed the log and was on my way! (By the way, even after I found the cache, I never understood the clue.)

I did it! I found NINE caches! By myself! My first day out! With the nuvi, nonetheless! Needless to say, I was elated! Have you ever experienced a moment where you almost admitted defeat, but instead decided to push on to sweet success? I'd love to hear about it!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Do slipping straps, riding up backs, or not enough support have you ready to write a Dear John letter to your old bras? Apply for a Bra Makeover from Playtex! Seven out of 10 women are wearing the wrong size bra, which can result in an ill fit for the rest of their outfit, back and shoulder pain, as well as bruising and digging.

We all know that busy moms don't always have time to update their bras or even check to make sure they are wearing the correct size. That's why Playtex recently launched www.PlaytexBraMakeover.com, a site where women can go to apply for a bra makeover or nominate a friend.

If chosen, the winner will be flown to New York to receive a Bra Makeover with style expert Alison Deyette. Deyette is a fashion and trend lifestyle expert who has been featured on Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker and TLC's Ten Years Younger, as well as in print publications including Good Housekeeping, The Washington Post, and O Magazine.

Apply for your chance to win a Playtex Bra Makeover today. The last day to apply is Friday, May 21st, 2010. The 10 winners selected for a Bra Makeover will also star in their very own webisode wherein a makeover candidate will receive a fitting with Deyette and walk away with the perfect Playtex products.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

The winner of this contest has been determined. Congratulations to CJ Sime of Simply Simonsons! I hope that you and your little one enjoy playing the Curious George Discovery Beach game as much as my daughter and I! Remember to check out the other great games fromI Can Do That Games!

*******************************Our family enjoys geocaching together. If you aren't sure what geocaching is, I suggest you read my series of posts on Geocaching. My daughter is almost 3 1/2 and we have been caching for about a year. Surprisingly she really enjoys doing it because...when you you find a large cache, that means there is some "prize inside the treasure." So when we go caching, we tell her we are going treasure hunting. She totally understands the treasure hunting concept.

This past Christmas, her uncle, who also geocaches, got her the coolest gift.... a treasure hunting game! The Curious George Discovery Beach game is made by I Can Do That Games, a company that "fosters confidence by giving kids a chance to discover what they can do."

With the Curious George Discovery Beach game, the goal is to discover as many of the hidden objects as possible. The "game board" is a box filled (and sealed) with sand. Many different trinkets are inside the box. There are 5 "stations" - the lighthouse, the dock, the umbrella, the sailboat, and the palm tree - that can be uncovered to search for buried treasure.

Each player takes a turn flipping a card. The card will show you what to search for. You then spin the spinner, which tells you which station you can look in. The first person to find 6 of the hidden items is the winner.

There is also a wave square on the spinner. This is my daughter's favorite one to land on because it means.... yep, you guessed it.... you get to shake up the box, which in turn moves all the hidden items around.

The game is recommend for ages 3-8. Our three year old loves it, but a few other kids her age that she has played with get bored with it. I think it all depends on the attention span of the child. We like the game because there is no mess- the treasures and sand are sealed in the box. This game also teaches memory skills, matching skills and deductive reasoning.

I would highly recommend this game to anyone, especially those of you with children interested in pirates, geocaching or matching games.

Curious George Discovery Beach has won the Parents’ Choice Gold award, the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold award, the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval and the iParenting Media Award.

That's right, my friends at I Can Do That Games have agreed to give one lucky Bloggymom Reviews reader their own Curious George Discovery Beach game!

To enter, head over to the PARENTS page on the I Can Do That Games website. Then come back here and leave me a comment with one NEW thing you learned about playing games with young children.

Extra Entries:1 - Become a follower via Google Friends connect.1 - Become a follower on twitter. (BloggymomSC)1 - Repost on a social media site (facebook, twitter, etc)1 - Leave a comment on any of my Geocaching posts.

Leave a comment for each entry. You have until 10pm EST on Monday, May 31, 2010 to enter.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Winners: The winners of the evolve eco-friendly showerheads have been determined. Oddly enough, they are both named Sara(h). Our winners are Sara-Beth of The Butterbean Daily and Sarah of Sarah Simplifies. Congratulations, ladies! I do hope you enjoy this product and spread the word about evolve!

**********************************A little over a year ago, I gave away eco-friendly showerheads from a company called evolve.

Well guess what?!?! I'm going to give away 2 more this year. This month actually. As a matter of fact.... in two weeks!

For those of you not familiar with evolve, here's the skinny....evolve shower heads are maximum flow, eco friendly shower heads that use ShowerSmart technology to help you conserve water and save money. Say what?!?! Yes, it's true. But how does it work? AND really, how does it work?

So how does it work?Basically, you start your shower just as you normally would. When you turn on the shower, cold water is sent through the pipes to your shower head. If you're like me, you're running around doing other things- ironing clothes, brushing your teeth, trying the catch the weather portion of the morning news- while you're waiting for the water to heat up. While you're doing this, you are wasting gallons of water, and since your hot water heater is fired up, you're also wasting precious pennies.

With evolve ShowerSmart technology, once your water temperature reaches 95 degrees, the water slows to a trickle. So finish your ironing, brush longer, and actually hear what the weather is going to be for the next 3 days. Once you're finished, hop in the shower and pull the cord attached to the shower head to resume normal water flow. It's all quite simple.

Seriously?!? I'll save money?According the the evolve website, you can save up to 2,700 gallons of water and $75 on your utility bill yearly! WOW! Personally I haven't used the shower head long enough to determine a difference in my utility bill, but I can't wait until that time comes!

How much does this thing cost?The evolve shower head that I use is the "water lily" Rain Shower head. This shower head retails for $80, other rain models retail for $60-$110. evolve also has standard ($40-$90) and handheld ($70-$130) shower heads available. I feel that these prices are comparable to shower heads that one would purchase at Lowes or any other hardware store.

How do I get one of my very own?!? You can order directly from the evolve website.

Also, thanks to my friend Chevon over at evolve, TWO lucky readers have will win evolve showerheads. That's right, you could WIN AN EVOLVE SHOWER HEAD of your very own!

I will be giving away one (1) of the tulip standard showerheads ($80 value) and one (1) of the macaw handheld showerheads ($80 value).Ohhh...I love contests. What do I do?You must to do two things to enter the contest.Part 1 Become a public follower of this blog (if you're already a follower, you can skip this step.)Part 2 One of the things I love about evolve is their philosophy- this eco-friendly company has pretty much the same outlook as you and I in concerns to being "eco-friendly." For the second part of your entry, head over to evolve and take a look at their vision. Then, come back and tell me what you do in an effort to be eco-friendly.If you do not complete both parts of the first entry, you will not be eligible to win.

The contest will end at 10 pm EST on Saturday, May 23, 2010. Winners will be chose via random.org.

Want to earn extra entries?1 extra entry for following me on twitter.1 extra entry for each relevant comment you leave to any other 2010 post on this blog.(DO NOT comment that you left a comment- I'll see that when I approve it. You cannot leave two comments on the same posts and the comments must be relevant to the post.)

The Fine Print...Winners will be notified and must respond within 24 hours or new winner will be chosen. Please note any issues with the winning product are not the responsibility of Bloggymom and must be taken up with evolve shower heads. This contest is open to persons 18 and older with a US, Canadian or APO mailing address.

I actually came across the book title when I was researching helicopter parenting - those parents who hover over their perfect, unscathed children at all times, ready to swoop in at any hint of a threat (real or percieved) of bursting the little bubble they've put them in. We've all heard stories...maybe even done it ourselves - parent's who do their kids homework for them, call teachers if the grades aren't what they want, not letting their children walk to the mailbox by themselves, calling their kids every morning to wake them up for college classes, calling a potential employer whne their child didn't get the job...

Well I was researching helicopter parenting (mostly because I don't want to be one) when I came across an article that discussed the new backlash against it, the Free Range or Free Parenting movement. Like her title suggests, Ms. Skenazy advocates that as parents, we must learn to allow our children to be.. children... let them learn, explore and become independent and build self confidence without always trying to swoop in and rescue them before they even have a chance to fail (doesn't that somewhat defeat the purpose anyway?)

Right now I am only in the second chapter, but I am very intrigued by what I am reading. She provides real life examples and at the end of the chapter gives you 3 different levels of challenges to let go and stop hovering.

Stay tuned for my thoughts throughout my reading, stories of how I'm trying to apply some of the concepts and my complete review at the end. Who knows...maybe I can even give away a few copies of the book!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Now that's you've read my other posts on Geocaching, and know the basics, you're ready to get started right? Here' you'll learn what you need to get started and then, GO HAVE FUN!

How do I get started?First, you’ll need a GPS. This is your only major investment in the activity. If you have a newer auto GPS, check your users manual or the manufacturer’s website to see if you can manually enter your coordinates. If so, you’re set. Any GPS that will allow you to manually enter coordinates is fine to start with. When we first started, we used a Garmin nuvi 265w. This was great for the first couple of months while we learned more about the sport and got our feet wet. Eventually though, we upgraded to a handheld device. We use the Delorme Earthmate PN-30 which is AWESOME! The readings are much more accurate than the Garmin. I will say that we still use the Garmin to guide us to the general location of the cache, but the Delorme becomes the primary GPS as soon as we exit the vehicle.

Aside from a GPS, the only other thing you will need to get started is a membership at http://www.geocaching.com/. You can sign up for basic membership for free or become a premium member for $30 a year. Premium membership will allow you to organize geocache listings, create favorites, create custom searches, and receive email or mobile notifications re: newly published caches. You can also create a caches route for your next road trip with a premium membership.

Anything else I need to know?Geocachers practice something called CITO which stands for Cache In, Trash Out. Basically, if you see trash in the area where you are geocaching, pick it up and throw it away.

Geocaching has many terms and acronyms. You can read more about these here.

Please post a comment and let me know how it goes! Also, check back for more posts including cool cache containers we've seen and a giveaway!

This in the 3rd installment of my "How to Become a Geocacher" posts. If you've missed the previous 2 posts, click "Geocaching" in the label list on the right side of this blog. This time I'm going to talk about finiding and retrieving a cache without being caught.

How do I find a cache without being seen?In geo-caching, the trick is to remove a cache from a location without being spotted by muggles. The geocaching term “muggle” is based on the Harry Potter books series in which a muggle is a “non-magical” person. While most geo-muggles are harmless, there is a chance of a cache being “compromised” by a non-geocacher (especially the younger ones.)

So how do you keep the cache secure? Well, the most important thing to remember is that if muggles don’t know a cache is there, they won’t look for it. So when you are looking for a cache and there are muggles nearby, you need to be very deliberate in your actions. If you can’t hide what you’re doing, then start acting. Use your GPS as a cell phone, pretend to drop an earring or tie your shoe. Basically, act ordinary. Also, when you find the cache, move from the hiding spot to sign the log and trade trinkets. Just remember to use stealth when returning the cache to its hiding spot as well!

If there is no way to retrieve the cache without giving away its location, the best thing to do it leave the area and try again later.